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    Page 36 of 37 FirstFirst ... 26 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 LastLast
    Results 701 to 720 of 721
    1. #701
      Join Date
      Aug 2012
      Location
      Peoria, AZ
      Posts
      1,758
      Country Flag: United States
      Quote Originally Posted by Lonnies Performance View Post
      What made you decide on a panhard bar instead of a watts link?
      Frankly, it was because a kit was finally designed for these cars that just happened to use a PHB instead of a Watts. I have been in and know lots of people that race cars with both and have felt many different attributes with both designs and it is my opinion that both can be tweaked and adjusted to match any particular car's quirks.

      Packaging is also a concern, especially on this car with the huge 9" in place of the OEM 10 bolt. I'm pretty impressed with how this packaged in there and the advantages it gives me in adjustability over the OEM design are huge.

      I am now fully adjustable with both front and rear setups so it'll be a test of my tuning ability to get this car neutral and fast, I welcome the challenge.
      Lance
      1985 Monte Carlo SS Street Car

    2. #702
      Join Date
      Mar 2020
      Posts
      199
      Best of luck... I always enjoy your feedback & evaluations.

    3. #703
      Join Date
      Aug 2012
      Location
      Peoria, AZ
      Posts
      1,758
      Country Flag: United States
      So, I've driven the car around the streets a few times and have made some adjustments from my initial settings.

      First off, the way the rear suspension reacts to inputs now is COMPLETELY different than before and in a great way. I'm so excited about it's possibilities now. I have not been able to get the rear to step out in the somewhat aggressive street driving I have attempted so far, not once. Nor have I been able to get the rear to get the front tires to push...so far, it's pretty dang neutral.

      I have had some interference issues I'm working through and a wheel hop issue.

      I had the inner fender sheet metal on the passenger side rubbing the inside of the RR tire under hard left turns...the sheet metal was sticking out past the frame rail and a few selectively placed blows with a 5# sledge and some fresh black paint seem to have cured that.

      First time out, it would wheel hop just about any time I got on the gas hard. I raised the upper link frame side mount to the top hole, went from 162# to 185# rear springs, put rear sway bar on full stiff (was in middle), added 7 clicks of rear rebound to shocks and raised PHB from 9" to 10" and drove again. Wheel hop is MUCH better, now it'll only hop if I try to make it hop...by being real aggressive on the throttle.

      My other interference issue is the Pinion\U-joint contacting the body under full compression. Some of this happened during the wheel hop issues, but it'll also bottom out by just hitting a hard bump at cruising speed. I'm running a 3.5" diameter driveshaft (full inch larger than stock) and a 9" which is much larger than the OEM 10 bolt. It was better after putting the bit stiffer springs in, so I think I'll bump up to the 200# springs I have sitting here and maybe I'll shorten the upper link just a bit as well to try to gain a bit more room. Technically I haven't even measured the pinion angle yet, I initially set the upper link length by putting it exactly where the housing sat with the old links still in place. Moving the frame side upper link to top hole probably added a bit of static pinion rise, so this needs to be addressed. I think I'll leave the spring adjusters where they are when I put the 200# springs in as well which will raise the rear ride height another 1/4" or so I believe.

      I think the wheel rate is pretty close to what I'll need, I LOVE the way the rear squats under hard acceleration and you can tell it throws the car forward vs blowing the tires off like it used to do. Lateral load feels decent as well...I haven't tried a hard braking turn yet to see what turn in is like. but from what I can tell corner exit is going to be MILES better than it has ever been before. I need to get the interference issues worked out regardless though before I can really start to throw it around. I'm pretty stoked about how it is going so far though...can't wait to race it this Sunday.

      Also, I'm pretty sure the engine woke up a bit when I cut the tailpipes off. I'm getting pretty used to the tone and I'm pretty sure it will pass sound at the track...but I'll still try to rework the whole exhaust at some point to get it out from under the back seat. Latest thoughts are a Y pipe into a single 4" muffler\tailpipe on passenger side up and over the axle dumping behind the RR tire.
      Lance
      1985 Monte Carlo SS Street Car

    4. #704
      Join Date
      Aug 2012
      Location
      Peoria, AZ
      Posts
      1,758
      Country Flag: United States
      So, apparently I'm an idiot... I set my upper link length by the position the axle was in with the old 2 upper links still attached in what I thought was the preferred pinion angle, and then I never measured it to verify it was correct until today.

      I had the pinion angle about 3 degrees higher than it should have been. Taking a 1/4" out of the upper link put the pinion angle just under parallel with the trans output and BOOM, just like that my wheel hop and U-Joint interference problems went away. Car is butter smooth at 80-100 MPH and can be driven in full anger with no strange and scary noises. Let's go racing boys!!!
      Lance
      1985 Monte Carlo SS Street Car

    5. #705
      Join Date
      Aug 2012
      Location
      Peoria, AZ
      Posts
      1,758
      Country Flag: United States
      Who else is as excited as I am to see what this thing can do tomorrow? :D

      Course has a ton of transitions in it along with a couple sweepers, exactly the test bed to see how much the 3 link improved the car's rear grip.

      https://forum.azsolo.com/index.php?/...nt-1-jan-16th/

      Car is washed, full of fuel, have a new case for the GoPro and the weather forecast shows high 60s-low 70s and partly clouds tomorrow.

      Let's do this!!
      Lance
      1985 Monte Carlo SS Street Car

    6. #706
      Join Date
      May 2012
      Location
      Kansas City, Missouri
      Posts
      665
      Country Flag: United States
      Good luck. Go get em. That weather sounds better than here in kansas city. But I know u remember that. Got 3 inches of snow

    7. #707
      Join Date
      Aug 2012
      Location
      Peoria, AZ
      Posts
      1,758
      Country Flag: United States
      So the day didn't go exactly as planned... :D

      First two runs were great, completely different car yet still very responsive and easy to drive. I was about a second or so ahead of Mike in his Chevelle on both runs, then sitting in line to start 3rd run in neutral I pushed the clutch in to shift to 1st and the pedal went to the floor. Pretty sure I have a clutch fork issue but Barney was out.

      Mike graciously let me slip into his seat for my last 3 runs. It was awesome for him to do that and to feel my setup on course then to go directly to his setup (which is very similar to mine) and feel the difference. Final verdict from today, 3 link is the answer! :D

      This video is my second run, only adjustment from first run was 3 clicks softer on rear rebound.



      I took a passenger and felt a slight RR tire rub on one long sweeper so I added some tape to verify where, added some compression to rear shocks and had tools out to raise PHB after 3rd run...but it wasn't to be.

      Here are the final results for the day.

      http://solo-timing-api.herokuapp.com...ass-Open_CAM-T

      It'll be a day or two before I can diagnose the clutch, but pretty sure the trans has to come out first too see what's up...so yeah...
      Lance
      1985 Monte Carlo SS Street Car

    8. #708
      Join Date
      Aug 2012
      Location
      Peoria, AZ
      Posts
      1,758
      Country Flag: United States
      Suspicion confirmed...







      Now just have to find time to schedule the uninstall\correct\reinstall procedure...
      Lance
      1985 Monte Carlo SS Street Car


    9. #709
      Join Date
      Apr 2001
      Location
      The City of Fountains
      Posts
      15,971
      Country Flag: United States
      That clutch has been working hard. Time to retire it and get a new one!

      Andrew
      1970 GTO Version 3.0
      1967 Cougar build
      GM High-Tech Performance feature
      My YouTube Channel Please Subscribe!
      Instagram @projectgattago
      Dr. EFI
      I deliver what EFI promises.
      Remote Holley EFI tuning.
      Please get in touch if I can be of service.

      "You were the gun, your voice was the trigger, your bravery was the barrel, your eyes were the bullets." ~ Her

    10. #710
      Join Date
      Aug 2012
      Location
      Peoria, AZ
      Posts
      1,758
      Country Flag: United States
      Well, this should be fun to get out...





      Had a very liberal coat of loc-tite on it when it went in the last time about 7 years ago...
      Lance
      1985 Monte Carlo SS Street Car

    11. #711
      Join Date
      Sep 2010
      Location
      Beach Park IL
      Posts
      2,838
      Country Flag: United States
      Heat to break the loctite. Progressively larger left hand drill bits with a a very accurate center punch.

      Or put a piece of tubing over it with an id about the same size as the root diameter of the threads, fill it with mig weld set on kill and burn into the stud as best you can, then walk it out with vise grips.
      Donny

      Support your local hot rod shop!

    12. #712
      Join Date
      Feb 2012
      Location
      Central NY
      Posts
      240
      Country Flag: United States
      Heat first. Quench with water. Heat again, WD40. Left hand drill bit, and easy out. Shouldn't be bad.

      Could always do the nut trick. Pick a nut about the same I'd as the od of the bolt and Mig weld it on. Heat will break the loctite and then you have wrench fats to back it right out

    13. #713
      Join Date
      Aug 2012
      Location
      Peoria, AZ
      Posts
      1,758
      Country Flag: United States
      Quote Originally Posted by dontlifttoshift View Post
      Heat to break the loctite. Progressively larger left hand drill bits with a a very accurate center punch.

      Or put a piece of tubing over it with an id about the same size as the root diameter of the threads, fill it with mig weld set on kill and burn into the stud as best you can, then walk it out with vise grips.
      I like the tube idea, nut is tough as even a 5/16" nut won't turn inside those ridges.

      Thought about grinding a couple 3/8" nuts down so outside is smooth, welding them to stud, then welding a nut onto those that we could get a wrench on.
      Lance
      1985 Monte Carlo SS Street Car

    14. #714
      Join Date
      Aug 2012
      Location
      Peoria, AZ
      Posts
      1,758
      Country Flag: United States
      The nuts were so small they melted down before the weld would burn into the stud

      Turns out, several drill bits and an easy out with assist from blue wrench was the answer.



      New bolt procured and ready to put all back together now.
      Lance
      1985 Monte Carlo SS Street Car

    15. #715
      Join Date
      May 2012
      Location
      Kansas City, Missouri
      Posts
      665
      Country Flag: United States
      Awesome. Thats a big relief I'm sure

    16. #716
      Join Date
      Sep 2010
      Location
      corona,ca.
      Posts
      1,078
      Country Flag: United States
      Didn't think that bolt needed loctite
      My t56 from the factory didn't have any.
      72 chevelle.

    17. #717
      Join Date
      Aug 2012
      Location
      Peoria, AZ
      Posts
      1,758
      Country Flag: United States
      Quote Originally Posted by chevelletiger View Post
      Didn't think that bolt needed loctite
      My t56 from the factory didn't have any.

      So this is not my first go around with this bolt and the whole issue is of my own making I've discovered.

      When I put my first Ram replacement clutch in, the pressure plate was thicker than OEM and the clutch fork hit the PP before the clutch disengaged. My cure was to shave some meat off the fork and shave some height off the pivot block to move the whole fork away from the PP. This worked for one summer, then the bolt came loose enough that the fork started hitting PP again. This time it got a liberal dose of loctite because I was getting pretty tired of pulling the trans just to deal with one silly little 8 mm bolt.

      Fast forward 7 years and you can see by the picture after it finally broke that the bolt bottomed out in the hole before the pivot block was tight against the trans. This is why it came loose the first time and why it finally broke 7 years later.

      I have now cleaned up both surfaces on pivot block and trans and have a bit shorter 10.9 grade shoulder bolt that clamps the block down tight before bottoming out and yes, it will get a bit of loctite as well before it goes back together.
      Lance
      1985 Monte Carlo SS Street Car

    18. #718
      Join Date
      Sep 2010
      Location
      corona,ca.
      Posts
      1,078
      Country Flag: United States
      Ah,I see now.
      72 chevelle.

    19. #719
      Join Date
      Aug 2012
      Location
      Peoria, AZ
      Posts
      1,758
      Country Flag: United States
      Got some work done on the car this week with positive results all around. The LCA axle mounts have been lowered 1.5" and a brace was added between the UCA frame mount and the pass side spring tower. Here is how the geometry ended up.



      I can now dump the clutch and send the car into a drift with virtually zero wheelhop, huge difference than before. The forward bite\grip seems to be much improved as well, but won't really be able to test that until I launch it at the start on hot tires at next event.

      I also had Dr EFI go back through my Holley tune and clean up a couple of things and OMG is it better now!! Andrew is getting really good at this and with his touches in a few places and the restrictive tailpipe delete, this thing really came to life. Can't wait to show the LS powered, big tire guys how well it works March 13!!
      Lance
      1985 Monte Carlo SS Street Car

    20. #720
      Join Date
      Aug 2019
      Location
      Nashville, TN
      Posts
      64
      Country Flag: United States
      I sure do love watching this build evolve. Great details and I bet you’re smashing that CAM-T class!

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